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City revealed there were four positive cases at the club on Christmas Day, including players Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus.
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager. Image: @ ManCity / Twitter
LONDON, UK – Manchester City will be without five players for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Chelsea due to positive tests for the coronavirus, Pep Guardiola confirmed as he defended the decision to postpone Monday’s clash with Everton.
City revealed there were four positive cases at the club on Christmas Day, including players Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus.
A new round of testing found three more cases among the City team on Monday, leading to the match being canceled just four hours before kickoff.
“Five players are isolated for 10 days,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Some of them, the first cases that were published, were four people, two players, and three more the second time.”
City have not disclosed the identities of the other three players who tested positive, who will also miss Wednesday’s League Cup semi-final against Manchester United.
The decision to postpone the game against Everton drew some criticism, as City had the 14 senior players in form required by Premier League rules to comply with the game.
Everton said they would seek clarification from league officials on how the postponement came about. However, Guardiola highlighted the risk of his players transmitting the virus to the Everton squad.
“I personally called (Everton manager) Carlo Ancelotti to announce the situation because we could play, but what if we travel in the coach and more players get it?” Guardiola said.
“The day before we were all in contact, and what if the Everton players caught it from us?
“It was a huge risk, because it’s not about what happens here at Manchester City, it’s about what happens around the world.
“Unfortunately people are dying all over the world and in the UK. Unfortunately the problem is still here. Hopefully in the next tests everyone is negative and people who are positive at this time can come back safely.”
The city’s training ground was temporarily closed but reopened Wednesday after no more new cases were detected in another round of testing.
A full round of Premier League matches is scheduled for this weekend, starting Friday.
However, after Tottenham’s showdown with Fulham on Wednesday was also postponed, the pressure on the Premier League is mounting to halt the season with a circuit breaker to try and reduce infection rates.
“We will follow what the Premier League says,” Guardiola added. “They are doing an incredible job and have been doing it since the first lockout, but it is unfortunate what happened.”
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard welcomed the plans for Sunday’s game but warned there will be more disruptions with infection rates on the rise in England.
“It seems to me that the situation at the moment is that we go game by game.
“The games are being canceled due to the positive tests around the game and I understand that. Let’s see how it goes because these are uncertain times.”
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